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E 451 
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Copy 1 



JOHN BROAVN'S EXPEDITION 



KEVnCWKI) IN 



A LETTER 



REY. THEODORE PARKER, 



AT R o m: E , 



FRANCIS JACKSON. 



BOSTON", 



BOSTON: 
PUIiLISIIEI) BY THE FRATERNITY 

1860. 



JOHN BimWN'S KXPEDITTON 



KEVIEWKI) IN 



A LETTER 



KEY. THEODORE PARICER, 



.^ T li O ]\X E , 



F R A X C I S JACKSON", 



B O S T O IN^. 



BOSTON: 
PUBLISHED BY THE FRATERNITY. 

1860. 



V :.•:.. 



Osm. C. tUmi k Xtnj. TtUiun, I CaraUU. I]««*aB. 



L E T T E 11 



Rome, Xoy. 24, 1859. 

My Dear Friexd, — I see by a recent telegi-aph which 
the Steamer of Nov. 2d, brought from Boston, that the 
Court found Capt. Brown guilty, and passed sentence 
upon him. It is said, Friday, Dec. 2d, is fixed as the day 
for hanging him. So, long before this reaches you, my 
friend will have passed on to the reward of his magnan- 
imous public services, and his pure, upright private life. I 
am not well enough to be the minister to any congrega- 
tion, least of all to one like that which, for so many years, 
helped my soul while it listened to my words. Surely, 
the 28th Congregational Society in Boston needs a minis- 
ter, not half dead, but alive all over; and yet, while 
reading the accounts of the affair at Harper's Ferry, and 
of the sayings of certain men at Boston, whom you and I 
know only too well, I could not help wishing I was at 
home again to use ichat 2)oor remnant of poxoer is left 
to me in defence of the True and the Right. 

America is rich in able men, in skilful writers, in ready 
and accomplished speakers. But few men dare treat 
I^ublic affairs with reference to the great principles of jus- 
tice, and the American Democracy ; nay, few with refer- 
ence to any remote future, or even with a comprehensive 
survey of the present. Our public writers ask what effect 
will this opinion have on the Democratic party, or the 



Ri-puMican party; how will it alU'ct tlic next Presidential 
i-lfclion ; what will the great State of l\'iiiisylvania or 
Oliio, or New York say to it:' This is vc-ry iintortunate 
for UJ« all, espi'i-ially whrii the ].«•». j)k' have to deal prac- 
lieally, and that speedily with a (picstion coneerning tlie 
very existence of DiiMotnitic inviitutiniis in .Vnierica; for 
it is not to be denied that we nuist givi' uj) J)emocracy 
if we kei'p Slavkkv, or give up Slavkkv if we keep 
Dkmo« i:a« V. 

I jjr*^atly dt-jjlnre tliis state of things. Oiiv aide men 
fnil to perfi»nn tlieir natnral finietiun, to give vahiable 
instnietinn and adviee to tlu- peopK' ; and at the same 
time tliey dolKise and degrade themselves. The hurrahs 
and the oftiees they get an- puur comi)ensation for false- 
ne.sM to their own con.sciences. 

In my best estate, 1 <bj not j»retend t<> much ]>olilieal 
wisdom, an<l still less now while sick ; but J w ish yet to 
Het tbjwn a few ihouglits for your j»rivate eye, and, it may 
be, for tlie ear of tlie Fraternity. They are, at least, the 
ref«nlt of long meditation mj tlu' subject ; besides, tluy are 
not at all n<'W nor peculiar to me, b)it are a part of the 
Public Knowledge of all enlightened nun. 

1. A MAN iiKi.n A<;Ai\sr ins w ii i. as a si.avi: has a 

KATl'UAI. Kn;iIT TO Kill, KVKKV oMI ANIlo SllKKS T(> 
I'ltKVKNT IMS KNJoVMKM- oF MUKKTV. This lias long 

l»een rert>gni/.e«l as a sidf-evident proposition, coming so 
directly from the Primitive Instincts of I luman Nature, 
that it neither re«piired pniofs nor a<linilti i| iluiu. 

2. It .may UK A NATi i:ai, lurv ok iiii: si.a\i: to 

I»KVKI.o|* THIH NATIUAI. ItnillT IN A I'KA. II. Al. MAN- 
NER, AND ACTUAI.I.V Kill. Ai.i. iiiosi: WHO m;i:k ro i'j;i:- 
VKNT lil.s KNJOYMKNT or MUKiMv. l\>v if he c<.ntiniie 
patiently in bondage: l-'iist. he mtails the foulest of 
rur»e« on his children; and, second, he encourages other 



men to commit tlie crime nu^niiist natui-e wliicli Ik* ;ilio\\-s 
his own master to commit. It is my duty to ).ir>cr\ c my 
own body from starvatioil. If I fnil lluivor lInoiiLili 
sloth, I not only die, but incur tlie cunWm])l aud lonlliim;- 
of my acquaintances wliile I live. It is not less my duly 
to do all that is in my power to preserve my body and 
soul from Slavery; and if I submit to that tln-ou^h cow- 
ardice, I not only become a bondman, and sufR-r Avhat 
thraldom inflicts, but I incur also the contemjit and loath- 
ing of my acquaintance. Why do freemen scorn and 
despise a slave? Because they think his condition is a sign 
of his cowardice, and believe that he ought to [irefer death 
to bondage. The Southerners hold the Africans in great 
contempt, though mothers of their children. AVhy? 
Simply because the Africans are slaves; that is, because 
the Africans fail to perform the natural duty of securing 
freedom by killing their oppressors. 

3. The freemax has a xatukal eight to help 
the slaves recover their liberty, and ix that 
exterprise to do for them all which they have 
a right to do for themselves. 

This statement, I think, requires no argument or illus- 
tration. 

4. It may be a oSTatural Duty for the free- 
max TO HELP THE SLAVES TO THE EXJOYMENT OF 
THEIR LIBERTY, AXD AS MEAXS TO THAT EXD, TO AID 
THEM IX KILLIXG ALL SUCH AS OPPOSE THEIR XATFRAL 
FREEDOM. 

If you were attacked by a wolf, I sliould not only have 
a right to aid you in getting rid of that enemy, but it 
would be my duty to help you in proportion to my 
power. If it were a murderer, and not a wolf, who at- 
tacked you, the duty would be still the same. Suppose 
it is not a murderer who would kill you, but a Kn>XAP- 
1^ 



i. vvouM tn.ilavi\ tltH's ilial make it Kss my <luty 

to lu*l|» rou out of the hmuU of your fiuiiiy'/ SupjMjse 
it in not a ' T wlio wofiM iiiakc yuu a Imjii<1im:iii, 

but a HLA\ ; i; wlio wouiti kft-p ynti f»n(', <ln(< that 

rvroovc my obligation to lielp you ? 

[». TlIK I'KUFOUMAN* K oF THIS Dl 1 V 1^ I" li. <"N- 
TBoI.LKO UV TlIK KKKKMA.n's I'oWKK AM> » .I'l'. .1; 1 IMT V 
TO IIKLPTHK «LAVKK. (Tllf InipoSnihU' Ls uevtT tlu' Ohlig- 
atory). I faunol lu'lp the hIuvus in Dalioincy or iJornou, 
and ain not Ik>uii<1 to try. I can lulp tliosc wlio escape 
to my own nfii;lilM»rhoo»l, an«l 1 oui^lit to do so. My 
iluty is coiununsuratf with my j»ower; and as my jiowcr 
iucre.'iMts my <luty enhirj:je« ahmtj witli it. If 1 rnahl 
help t' 'u]vu in \'iri;inia to their freeilom as easily 

nn*l i J ;i> I ran aid the runaway at my own door, 

then I OUGHT to do so. 

TlieM' five maxims haM* a liiiret aj»j»Heati<>ii to America 
at thi.H day, and the people of tlie Free States have a cer- 
tain dim perivpti«m thereof, m hi« h, lortiinately, is hccum- 
inj» clearer every year. 

Thus the |»eopIe of M:ussaehusett.s/ct7 that tin y ought 
t4» protect the futfilive slaves who conu* into our State. 
llnire come first, the irrejjjular altemj»ts to secure their 
lilHTty, and the deohinitioiui of nohle men, like Timothy 
<; ■ •; '.• \V. C'ames and (Jthers, that they will do 

it personal ri.sk; and, secondly, tlu' statute 
law* made by the Lcgiiilature to accomplish that end. 

Now, if M:iA«<acliusetts had the j.ower to do as much for 
Uio hlavpH in Virginia as for the runaways in her own ter- 
ritory, we hhould Hoon sec those two sets of measures at 
Work in t/uit din>ction also. 

I find it i» »ai«l in the Democratic newspapers that 
"Capt. Hrown h.ad many friends at the North, who sym- 
pathized with him in general, and in special apj. roved of 



tills particular scheme of lii^ ; tliey furiiislied liim with 
some twelve or twenty thousand dollars, it would seem," 
I think much more than that is true of us. If he Jiacl 
succeeded in running off one or two thousand slaves to 
Canada, even at the expense of a little violence and 
bloodshed, the majority of men in New England would 
have rejoiced^ not only in the JEnd^ but also in th^ Means, 
The first successful attempt of a considerable number of 
slaves to secure their freedom by violence will clearly 
show how deep is the sympathy of the people for them, 
and how strongly they embrace the five princii^les I men- 
tioned above. A little success of that sort will serve as 
priming for the popular cannon ; it is already loaded. 

Of course, I was not astonished to hear that an attempt 
had been made to free the slaves in a certain part of Vir- 
ginia, nor should I be astonished if another " insurrection " 

or " rebellion" took j^lace in the State of , or a third 

in ^ or a fourth in . Such things are to be 

exj^ected ; for they do not depend merely on the private 
will of men like Capt. Brown and his associates, but on 
the great General Causes which move all human kind to 
hate AYrong and Ioa'C Right. Such " insurrections " will 
continue as long as Slavery lasts, and will increase, both 
in frequency and in power, just as the jDCople become in- 
telligent and moral. Virginia may hang John Brown and 
all that family, but she cannot hang the IIumax Race ; 
and until that is done, noble men will rejoice in the motto 
of tliat once magnanimous State — " Sic semper Tyran- 
nis ! " " Let such be the end of every oppressor." 

It is a good Anti-Slavery j^icture on the Virginia shield : 
— a man standing on a tyrant and choj^ping his head off 
with a sword ; only I Avould paint the sword-holder hlack 
and the tyrant v^liite^ to show the immediate application 
of the principle. The American people will have to march 



•8 



to nillnr hc-verc inu.sic, I think, ami it is Ijcttcr l"ur them 
lu fact- it ill hoaj*oii. A tVw yiars air«> it «li"l not seem dit- 
ficull first to churk Shivery, and tlnii t.. iii-l it witliout 
any hhnHlshe.!. I think tliin c:mu..i l,c .Iniu- iiow, nor 
t\erin ihi- fntun-. All tin* ^nial charlers uf 111 mamty 
have been writ in I>1<mm1. 1 onti- ImjuMl that of Aiiniicaii 
Deiiiocraey wouhl be eni^rosseil in less costly inU ; but it 
L) |>luin, ni)\v, that onr j»ilp*iniage must lead tiii<»UL;li a 
livil Si':i, whi-ri-in many u Pharaoh will ijo under and jier- 
ihh. Alas I that we are not wise em»UL,di to be just, or jujit 
enough to be wise, ami so gain niurh at Muall eosi I 

Look, now, at a frw nott»rious l'a(t> : 

I. There are four million slaves in the rnilid States 
violently withhehl from their natmal riuht t<> litr, lilnrty, 
and the pursuit of haj)jiiness. Xnu, tiny arc vnr fel- 
low countrymen — yours and mine, just as nnuh as any 
four million irAitt nuMi. Of couix-. you and I owt- them 
the duly which one man owi-s anotlu r of lii.s own nation, 
— the iluty of instruction, advici-, and protertiou olnatu- 
nd rights. l( tliey are starving, we ought to hcljt feed 
them. The color of tlu-ir skins, tluir di'grade<l social con- 
dition, thvir igntirani-r, abates n<»tliing lioui tlu-ir natural 
Claim on us, «»r from our natural Duty toward them. 

There are men in all the Nortlu-rn States who feel the 
obligation which citizenship imposes on tluiii — the duty 
to help those slaves. Hence arose tin- A.\ ri-Si a vi:kv 
SotlKTV, which seeks simply to exeite tin- w liite peojile 
to |KTform their natural duty t.. tluir dark IMImw -(•(.un- 
trjnien. Hence ct»mes ("ai-i. Ukown'.^ 1v\ i'i:i.i i imn — 
an attempt to lidp his couiitrynieM enjtiy tlieii- natural 
right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of haj.pine^s. 

He bought by violence what thi' Anti-Slavery Society 
works for with other weapons, 'i'jic two ai^rcc in the 
end, and ditVer only in tin- means. .Men like (apt. In-own 



9 



will be continually rising up among tlie wliite ]H'0]»kj of 
the Free States, attempting to do their natural duty to 
their black countrymen — that is, help them to freedom. 
Some of these efforts will be successful. Thus, last winter 
Capt. Brown himself escorted eleven of his countrymen 
from bondage in Missouri to freedom in Canada. He did 
not snap a gun, I think, although then, as more recently, 
he had his fighting tools at hand, and would liave used 
them, if necessary. Even now, the Undergromid Kail- 
road is in constant and beneficent operation. By and by, 
it will be an Ovei-ground Railroad from Mason and Dix- 
on's line clear to Canada : the only tunneling Avill be in 
the Slave States. Xorthern men applaud the brave con- 
ductors of that Locomotive of Liberty. 

When Thomas Garrett was introduced to a meeting of 
political Free-Soilers in Boston, as "the man who had 
helped 1,800 slaves to their natural liberty," even that 
meeting gave the righteous Quaker three times three. All 
honest Xorthern hearts beat with admiration of such men ; 
nay, with love for them. Young lads say, " I wish that 
heaven would make me such a man." The wish will now 
and then be father to the fact. You and I have had 
opportunity enough, in twenty years, to see that this phi- 
lanthropic patriotism is on the increase at the Xorth, and 
the special direction it takes is toward the liberation of 
their countrymen in bondage. 

Not many years ago, Boston sent money to help the 
Greeks in their struggle ioY political freedom^ (they never 
quite lost their personal liberty^ but with the money, she 
sent what was more valuable and far more precious, one 
of her most valiant and heroic sons, who staid in Greece 
to fight the great battle of Humanity. Did your friend. 
Dr. Samuel G. Howe, lose the esteem of iS'ew-England 



10 



men by tliat act? He won llu* adiniralion of Kurojto, ami 
holds it still. 

Xay, hliil later, the same dear oM I><»st<>ii — Iluiikers 
have never been more than rats an<l mice in her iioiisc, 
whirh she sufiei-s for a lime, and tiien drives out twelve 
hundred of them at once on a certain <lay of March, 177G, 
— that same dear t»ld Boston sent the same Dr. Howe to 
carry aid and comfort to the Poles, then in deadly strug- 
gle for their political existence. Was he <lis<rraeed because 
lie lay seven-and-forty days in a Prussian jail in Berlin ? 
Not even in tlie eyes of the Prussia rr KinLT^ who after- 
wards Hcnt him a m»ld medal, Avliose metal was worth as 
many doHars as that j.hilanthroj.ist lay days in tlie des- 
pot's jail. It is said, '^Charily should l»ei4-in at home." 
The American began a good ways i.tf, but has been work- 
ing homeward ever since. The I )r. Howe of to-day would 
and (Might to be nu»re ready to helj) an American to 
personal litprdj, than a Pole c»r a Greek to mere j.olitical 
freedom, and would fin<l more men to furnish aid and com- 
fort to <»ur «.wn C(»untrymen, even if they were black. It 
Would n«»t surprise me if theic were other aii.l u cll-plaii- 
ned attempts in other States to d.. what (aptain Brown 
heroically, if not successfully, tried in Xir-inia. Nine out 
often may fail — the tenth will succeed. The victory 
over den. Burgoyne more than made up for all the losses 
in many a |.re\ions defeat; it was the beginning of the 
end. Slavery will not die a <by death, it may have as 
many lives as a cat ; at last, it will die like a mad dog in 
a village, with only the enemies of the liuuian kind to 
lament its fate, and they t«»u cowardly to appear as 
mournei-s. 

II. But it is m.t merely white men who will fight for 
the liberty of Americans; the negroes will take their 
defence into their own hands, especially if they can find 



11 



white men to lead tliem. No doubt, the .African race is 
greatly inferior to the Caueasian in <i;eiieral intellectual 
l^ower, and also in that instinct for Liberty which is so * 
strong in the Teutonic family, and just now obvious in 
the Anglo-Saxons of Britain and America ; l>csi(les, 
the African race have but little desire for vengeance — 
the lowest form of the love of justice. Here is one exam- 
ple out of many: In Santa Cruz, the old slave laws M'ero 
the most horrible, I think, I ever read of in modern times, 
unless those of the Carolinas be an excei)ti()n. If a slave 
excited others to run away, for the first offence his right 
leg was to be cut off, for the second offence, his other leg. 
This mutilation was not to be done by a surgeon's hand; 
the poor wretch was laid down on a log, and his legs 
chopped off with a plantation axe, and the stumps plunged 
into boiling pitch to stanch the blood, and so save the 2J7'op- 
erty from entire destruction ; for the live Torso of a slave 
mio'ht serve as a warninsf. No action of a Court was 
requisite to inflict this punishment ; any master could thus 
mutilate his bondman. Even from 1830 to 1846, it Avas 
common for owners to beat their offending victims with 
" tamarind rods " six feet long and an inch in thickness at 
the bigger end — rods thick set with ugly thorns. "When 
that process was over, the lacerated back was washed with 
a decoction of the Manchineel, a poison tree, whicli made 
the wounds fester, and long remain open. 

In 1846, the negroes were in " rebellion," and took 
possession of the island; they were 25,000, the whites 
3,000. But the blacks did not hurt the hair of a white 
man's head; they got their freedom, but they took no 
Revenge ! Suppose 25,000 Americans, held in bondage 
by 3,000 Algerines on a little island, should get their 
masters into their hands, how many of the 3,000 would 
see the next sun go down ? 



No (loubl, it is tliroiiLrli tin* absfiu-o of tlii> (h-iri* of 
natural venjj^i-aiK'f, I h:il tin- Africans Iium- luin rrtluecd 
to boiitla^is ami ki|»t in it. 

Hut (htrt is a limit trtn tn t/i' w/ros forhrarKJice, 
San ]>«Mnin<;o is n«>i a tr'iai way olV. 'V\\c revuliition 
wliith rliaiiL'iMl its Mack inlial»itants \\nn\ tame slaves 
intM wil.l men, took j»laee after y<»ii lia<l eea>c«l to tall 
yoursi'If a buy. 

I( sfoMts ir/mt Hon/ fh in Atmriru, \\\\\\ n<» wliitf man 
to help. In the Slave States, tin ii' i^ many a possilde 
San Domingo, wliieh may beeonu- actual any<lay; and, 
if ncit in lS<jo, then in some otlier "year (-f our Lord." 
Hcsidcs, Anu*rica otVcrs more than any other country to 
excite the slave to love of I/ilxity, an<l the effort for it. 
We are always talking ahojii - Lilx ity," boasting that we 
are ^the freest |u'o|tle in the world," declariuLC that "a 
man wouM die, rather than be a slave." We continually 
pn'M.se our Fathers 'Mvho foULjl,t the Ke\ (>luti<-)n."' AVe 
l>uild m<»numents to commemorati" evtii the hund)lcst 
l>e«,nnnint,' of tliat great national work. Once a year, we 
stop :ill or<iinary wi»rk, and <j.\\v wy a whole day to the 
noisiest kind of rejoicing for the War of Independence. 
How we praise the ''champions of liberty I" llow we 
fjoint out the "infamy of the ]>riti>h (. j. pressors I *' "Tliey 
uould juake our Fathei-s slaves," say we, "and we slew 
the oppres.sor — Sic skmpku Tyranms I " 

I>o you suppose this will fail to ju'oduce its etfect on 
the black man, one day? The South must either give up 
keeping '* huhpendence Day," or else keep it in a little 
more ihorougli fashion. Nor is this all : the Southei-ners 
are continually taunting the negroes with their miserable 
nature. " Vou are only half human," say they, ''not 
capable of free«loni.'' "Hay is g<»od f.>r horses, not for 
hog**,*^ said the j»/tilo.'<ojf/ti<: American who now "repre- 



13 

sents the great Democracy" at tlio (\.iiit of Tmin. AV>, 
lihertij is <jood for white nun, nnf fn,- ^ixjrors. Have 
they souls? I don't know \\x-\\ —,„>„' n,i rirordo. 
"Contempt," says the proverl), 'Mvill v\\\ tliroiiirl, the 
shell of the tortoise." And, one day, even the slugirish 
African will wake up under the three-fold stimulus of"the 
Fourth of July cannon, the whi]» of the slaveholder, and 
the sting of his heartless mockery, 'fhen, if "()i)pression 
maketh wise men mad," what do you think it will do to 
African slaves, who are familiar with scenes of violence, 
and all manner of cruelty '? Still more: if the negroes 
have not general power of mind, or instinctive love of 
liberty, equal to the whites, they are much our sui)e- 
riors in power of cunnhig, and in contempt for ilentli 
— rather fonnidaljle qualities in a servile war. There 
already have been several risings of slaves in this century; 
they spread fear and consternation. The future will be 
more terrible. Now, in case of an insurrection, not only 
is there, as Jefferson said, " no attribute of the Almighty " 
which can take sides with the master, but there laill be 
many ichite men icho ici/l take part with the slave. Men, 
like the Lafiyettes of the last century, and the Dr. Howes 
of this, may give the insurgent negro as effectual aid as 
that once rendered to America and Greece ; and the pub- 
lic opinion of an enlightened world will rank them among 
its heroes of noblest mark. 

If I remember rightly, some of your fathers were in the 
battle of Lexington, and that at Bunker Hill. I believe, 
in the course of the war which followed, every able-bodied 
man in your town, (Xew^ton,) was in actual service. Xow- 
a-days, their descendants are proud of the fact. One day, 
it will be thought not less heroic for a negro to fight for 
his personal liberty, than for a white man to fight for 
political independence, and against a tax of three pence a 
2 



|»ouu<l <m te:i. Wait a little, :ui«l thinij^s will come 
romi«l. 

III. Tl»r I'xislc'iUH' of SlaviTV ciKlaiiLrcrs all our ])oino- 
cnitic institutions. It doos this if only toloiatcil as an 
cxcfj>tit»nal nioasiiro — a matter of jdcsi'iit convenience, 
and still more when jtroclaiined as an iiistanlial jtrincijile, 
a rule of political c(»niluct for all time an<l every ])lacc. 
l4<>ok at tliis: In IT'.M), tliere were (say) :JUU,(MJ() slaves ; 
soon tliey make tlieir tirst tlouhlinir, and are ()()(I,(M)U; then 
their second, l,li«MMMMJ; tlien their third, •J,4l)(l,(MM). They 
are now in the process of <li»ul»liii<x the I'ourth time, and 
will 8oon be 4,SOO,000 ; then e..nies the litth donble, 
IMJiMMMMl; then the sixth, l!),li(Ml,()(io. Before the year 
of our T.'-r.l nliicir.ii huiidr.d, tliere will be twenty million 
slaves ! 

An Anu'lo->a\cjn with common sense does not like this 
Africanization of America; he wishes the su])erior race to 
multiply rather than the inferior. Besides, it is plain to a 
one-eyed man that Slavery is an irreconcilable enemy of 
the pfol^res^ive developnu-nt of Democracy; that, if al- 
lowed to exist, it must be allowed to spread, to gain 
political, social and ecclesiastical power; and all that it 
ijiiins for the slaveholders is just so much taken from the 
tVeemen. 

Look at this — theri' are twenty Southern llepresiMita- 
tives who represent nothini^ but property in man, and yet 
tlieir vote counts as much in ('oni^ress as the twenty 
Norlheniers who stand for the will of l,SO(l,()()o freemen. 
Slavery pives the South the same advant:iLi-e in the ehoice 
of l'resi<lent ; conse<piently the slaveholdini^^ South has 
lon^ contndled the Fedi-ral Power of the nation. 

Look at the recent acts of the Slave I'ower! The 
Ku^dtive Slave bill, the Kansas-Xebraska bill, the Dred 
Scott decision, the lillibustering against Cuba (till found 



1 



too strong), and now against IMexico and otlicr fcebltj 
neighbors, and, to crown all, the acttml rc(>|»('ning of the 
African slave-trade ! 

The South has ki(lna])i)ed men in I>oston, and made the 
Judges of Massachusetts go under her symbohc cliain to 
enter the courts of justice (!) She has burned houses and 
butchered innocent men in Kansas, and the ])er|»etrators 
of that wickedness were rewarded by the Federal Gov- 
ernment with high office and great ])ay ! Those things are 
notorious; they have stirred uj) some little indignation at 
the Xorth, and freemen begin to think of defend ing their 
liberty. Hence came the Free-Soil party, and licnce the 
Republican party — it contemplates no direct benefit. to 
the slave, only the defence of the white man in his na- 
tional rights, or his conventional privileges. It will grow 
stronger every year, and also bolder. It must lay down 
principles as a platform to work its measures on; the prin- 
cij)les will be found to require much more than what was 
at first proposed, and even from this platform Republicans 
will promptly see that they cannot defend the natural 
rights of freemen loithout destroying that Slavery which 
takes aicay the natural rights of a negro. So, first, the 
wise and just men of the party will sympathize Avith such 
as seek to liberate the slaves, either peacefully or l)y vio- 
lence ; next, they will declare their opinions in public ; 
and, finally, the whole body of the party will come to the 
same sympathy and the same opinion. Then, of course, 
they will encourage men like Capt. Brown, give him 
money and all manner of help, and also encourage the 
slaves whenever they shall rise to take their liberty, at all 
hazards. When called to help put down an insurrection 
of the slaves, they Avill go readily enough and do the 
work by removing the cause of insurrection — that is — • 
by destroying Slavery itself 



\i\ 



An Anti-Slavory i.:irty, iin<l«'r one namo or another, 
will l>ofore long contn.l tin- I\<liral Govcriinu'iit, and 
will excrrise its ConstituliDiial Kii^lits, and prrfunn its 
Constitutional Duty, and " ir'i-'n-antoc a Kopuldican form 
of govcrnnicnt to every State in tlie Union." That is a 
Work of time an<l ]»eaceful K'^iNlation. But tlie short 
Work of vioU-nce will be often tried, :ind cadi attempt 
will piin soinethinir for the eause of Humanity, even by 
it>J dreadful proeess of blood. 

I \'. Hut there is yet another aireney that will aet against 
Slavery. There are many misehievous jiersons wlio are 
ready tbr any wicked work of ^ iolence. Tliey abound in 
the city of New ^^>^k, (a sort of >ink wlu-rc the \illaiiy 
of both hemispheres settles down, and genders that moral 
pestilence which steams nj) along the columns of tha Neto 
Vori- Herald .and the Xcii> York Observer, the great 
esrape-|>ipes of secular and eeclesiastical wickedness) they 
eonunit the great crimes of violence and robbery at home, 
plunder emigrants, and engage in the slave-trade, or ven- 
ture on fdlibustering ex])editions. This class of persons 
is common in all the Soutli. One of tlie legitimate pro- 
duets of her ''peculiar institution," they are familiar with 
violence, ready and able for murder. l*ublic opinion 
FU.stains such nu-n. Ilully I>rooks was Init one of their 
representatives in Congress. Xow-a-days they are fond 
of Slavery, defend it, and seek to si)read it. But the 
time must come one day — it may c(^nie any time — when 
the lovers of mischief will do a little tillil)ustering at 
home, and rouse up the slaves to n.b. burn and kill. Pru- 
dent carjK'Uters swi-ej) uj. all thi' shavings in their shops 
at niglit, and remove this food of conflagration to a safe 
jdace, lest the spark of a candle, the end of a cigar, or a 
friction-match should swiftly end their wealth, slowly 



17 



gathered together. The Soiitli takes pains to strew her 
carpenter's shop with shavings, and fill it full thereof. 
She encourages men to walk abroad with naked candles 
in their hands and lighted cigars in their mouths ; then 
they scatter friction-matches on the floor, and dance a 
fillibustering jig thereon. She cries, "Well done! Hur- 
rah for Walker!" "Hurrah for Brooks!" "Hurrah f..r 
the bark Wanderer and its cargo of slaves! Up wilh 
the bowie-knife! Down with justice and liumanity!" 
The South must reap as slic soavs ; where she scatters the 
wind, the wliirlwind will come up. It will be a pretty 
crop for her to reap. Within a few years the South has 
BTJEisrED ALIVE eight or ten negroes. Other black men 
looked on, and learned how to fasten the chain, how to 
pile the green wood, how to set this Hell-fire of Slavery 
agoing. The apprentice may be slow to learn, but he has 
had teaching enough by this time to know the art and 
mystery of torture ; and, depend ui)on it, the negro will 
one day apply it to his old tormentors. The Fire of Ven- 
geance may be waked up even in an African's heart, espe- 
cially when it is fanned by the wickedness of a white man : 
then it runs from man to man, from town to town. What 
shall put it out ? The white man's hlood ! 

Now, Slavery is a wickedness so vast and so old, so rich 
and so respectable, supported by the State, the Press, the 
Market, and the Church, that all those agencies are needed 
to oppose it with — those, and many more which I cannot 
speak of now. You and I prefer the peaceful method ; 
but I, at least, shall welcome the violent if no other accom- 
plish the end. So will the great mass of thoughtful and 
good men at the North ; else why do we honor the Heroes 
of the Revolution, and build them monuments all over 
our blessed New-England? I think you gave money for 



18 



that of Bunker Hill : I once thouglit it a Tnlly; now I 
recoijiiizo it as a threat senium in stone, whieli is wortli not 
only all the money it cost to Imild it, l»ut all the blood it 
took to lay its comer-stones. Trust me, its lesson will 
not Ik* in vain — at the North, I mean, lor the Lo(;i< of 
Slavkkv will keep the South on its lower course, and drive 
it on more swilUy than iMtmc. '' ('a)»t. IJiown's exj»edi- 
tion was a failure,'' I hear it >aid. I am not (juite sure of 
that. True, it kills Jiftei ii men l>y sword and shot, and 
four or five men by the gallows. Hut it shows the weak- 
ness of the tjreatest Slave State in America, the worth- 
lesJ^nesH of her Holdiery, and the utter Tear which Slavery 
ijender« in the bosoms of the masters. Think of the con- 
<lition <»f the City nf Washin-jt on while Iirowu was at 
Work ! 

Hrown will die, 1 think, liki- a martyr, and also like a 
saint, lli.s noble demeanor, his unllinchinir bravery, his 
gentleness, his calm, reliirious tru>t in (io<l, and his words 
of truth anil soberness, cannot f lil to make a profound im- 
jires.sioii on the hearts of Northern men; yes, and on 
Southern men. For ''every human heart is human," ttc. 
I ilo not think the money wasted, nor the li\es thrown 
away. Many acorns must be sown t«» liaNc one come uj); 
even then, the plant throws slow; but it is an Oak at last. 
None of the Christian martyrs died in vain; and from 
Stephen, who was stoned at JerusaK-m, to .Alary Dyer, 
whom our fathers hauLred <»n a b(ui^h of "the great tree" 
on Boston Common, I think there have been few spirits 
more ]»»ire and dt-voted than .l<>lin llrow iTs, and none that 
^ave up their breath in a noi»Ier cause. Jx't the American 
State hang his body, an<l the American Church (himn his 
soul; still, the blessing of such as are ready to peri^h will 
fall on him, and the universal ju>tiee of the Infinitely 



If) 



011 899 161 8 



Perfect God will take liiiu welcome li..iu,.. Tlw road to 
heaven is as short iVoni the gallows as Iruiii a thn.ric; 
perhaps, also, as easy. 

I suppose you would like to know soniethiurr ;il,out my- 
self. Rome has treated me to l)ad weather, which tells its 
story in my health, and certainly docs not mend mc. 
But I look for briglitcr days and happier nights. The sad 
tidings from America — my friends in i>eril, in exile, in jail, 
killed, or to be hung — jiave lilled me with grief, an(i so 
I fall back a little, but hope to get forward again. God 
bless you and yours, and comfort you ! 

Ever aftectionately yours, 

Theodore Parker. 




^ 



pennuliffe* 
pH8J 



